Caster



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. 8v O'. OLDHAM. MACHINE EOE SETTLING AND PLANKING FELT EAT BODIES.

Patented July 16, 1889.

Wmme/eo @vwo/mbox@ do SEPH OL DHA/v1 @15 man, Hom/Lm ORLANDO OLDHAM N PETERS. Phminhngmpnnr. Washingwn, D; C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.-

(No Model.)v

J. & 0. OLDHAM. MACHINE EOE SETTLING AND PLANNING EELT EAT BODIES.

No. 406,948. Patented July 16, 1889..

wvl

gf 17E/7.4.

O h Il O NN U 2/ c5141) o/wtoI/f JOSEPH GLDHAM ORLANDO OLUHAM @513 Weib @Hom/m l With/www0,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOsEPn OLDHAM AND ORLANDO OLDnAM, OE DEN'rON, OOUNTY OE LAN cAsTEE, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR SETTLING AND PLANKING FELT HAT-BODIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,948, dated July 16, 1889.

Application tiled July Z5, 1887. Serial No. 245,260. (No model.) Patented in England January 8,1887, No. 313.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:-

Be it known that we, JOSEPH OLDHAM and ORLANDO OLDHAM, subjects of the Queen of treat Britain and Ireland, and residents of Denton, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented Improvements in hilachinery for Settling and Planking Felt Hat-Bodies, (patented to us in Great Britain and Ireland by Royal Letters Patent No. 313, dated Sth day of January, 1887,) of which the following is a specification.

The obj ect of this invention is the construction of an arrangement of mechanism whereby the sett-ling and plankin g of felt hat-bodies can be effected more speedily and perfectly than heretofore, and so as to approach more nearly, if not to surpass, hand-planking.

On the accompanying' drawings, Figure l is a side view, Fig. 2 a front view, Fig. 3 a side sectional view, and Fig. l a plan, of our improved mechanism.

In all the views, c is a curved and corrugated wooden board or plate (hereinafter called the platform) fixed at the upper part of a wooden trough l), as illustrated, and so that the hot water contained in the trough can overfl Ow such platform du ring the settlin g and planking operations. Above this platform we mount a correspondingly segmental and corrugated wooden board or plate, (hereinafter called the segmental plate c,) affixed at the lower extremity of a pendulous or radial rod c. This rod c is suspended from an arm c2, proj ect-ing from one side of a rock-shaft d, which is counterbalanced by a slidingadjustable weight d', mounted upon a lever-arm d2, branching from the other side of the same rock-shaft. )Ye impart an oscillating motion to the pendulous or radial rod c by jointing it, above the segmental plate c, to a connecting-rod c, caused to reciprocate to and fro by being connected (through the intervention of a slide-block c', illustrated as workingl in a cylindrical guide c?, but which, it is obvious, might be otherwise guided) with a revolving crank or eccentric f upon a shaftj, driven by a belt upon the fast and loose pulleys f2, or by a winch-handle, or in any other convenient manner.

It is preferred to have the corrugated surface of the platform a and segmental plate c covered with hard-wood pegs, as seen more clearly in Figs. and El; and in order to raise the segmental plate c for the insertion of the hat-forms between the two corrugated and pegged surfaces we arrange a treadle g, connected by side rods g with arms g2, proj ecting from each outer extremity of the rockshaft d, and thus we are enabled not only to raise the segmental plate c for the insertion and withdrawal of the hat-forms, but to adjust the pressure, if need be, upon the hatbodies while undergoing the settling and planking operations. Stops l are affixed on the inner sides of the rods g to come into contact with the side frames and so prevent them descending too far.

The action of this improved machine may be described as follows: The hat-forms taken from the trough l) and rolled in the usual cloth are first placed upon the platform o, and the pendulous plate c is then allowed to lower itself into contact with such forms, (marked m, as illustrated in Fig. 3,) and by its oscillation to roll the same to and fro along the platform a, which is by preference immersed in the hot water-an operationhitherto imp-racticable, and which is continued until the de sired settling or plankingis effected. In this manner and by thus having a segmental corrugated plate oscillating above a platform curved and corrugated, as aforesaid, and immersed in hot water, we find that the hatbodies are more perfectly and easily rolled, and with an even pressure exerted on the entire curved surfaces, thus imparting a fine finish to the hat-bodies quite equal to if not better than can be effected by hand-planking.

)Ve find that the finest quality of fur-bodies can be thus plankcd, even such qualities as have hitherto required to be done by hand.

Hitherto the objection urged against ma chinery used for this purpose has been that the hat-forms have been worked too d ry, and, as a consequence, only a rough surface has been obtained, and, in fact, it has been im possible to obtain the desired finish which has only hitherto been obtainable by handplankinr.

This arrangement of mechanism, it will be IOO observed, permit-s all the working parts (which are constructed of iron) to be situated at the back of the machine, behind the splashboard j, and all out of the way of the acid, which has been a source of greatinjury to machines of this class as hitherto constructed.

It Will be apparent that, instead of mounting the segmental plate c at the extremity of the arm c2, projecting from a rock-shaft CZ, as hereinbefore described and illustrated, the segmental plate c, by means of its pendulous radial rod c, might be suspended from a fixed point above the trough (the rod being connected to the revolving crank or eccentric to obtain the requisite to-and-fro motion,) and the platform c be so arranged as to descend into the trough for the insertion and Withdrawal of the hat-forms; but this we should consider to be a modification, albeit a less convenient arrangement, of our invention.

We would here state that We are aware of an arrangement of mechanism for similar purposes, for which Letters Patent No. 2,353 were granted to William Grimshaw on the 7th day of August, 187 2, and hence we make no claim, broadly, to rolling hat-forms to and fro between two surfaces, one of which is stationary and the other reciprocating, save and except in the manner hereinbefore described, and as illustrated on the annexed drawings.

A machine for settling` and planking felt hat-bodies, comprising the hot-water tub b, the immersed platform a, having a concave curved working-surface, the elevated rockshaft d, pivotal connections between said rockshaft and plate, the jointed pitman e e, mech# anism, substantially in the horizontal plane of the tub, for reciprocating said pitman, a horizontal guide for limiting its vibrations, the treadle g, pitmen g', connecting said treadle and rock-shaft, and stops i, attached to said pitrnen g and engaging with the top of the tub, substantially as hereinbefore specified. i.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures to the foregoing specification.

JOSEPH OLDHAM. ORLANDO OLDHAM. Witnesses:

WALTER GUNN, J As. L. EWIN. 

